BIRMINGHAM, Alabama-A bi-monthly program at the Inglenook Branch Library honoring women in the neighboring communities and a program allowing patrons to build butterfly houses and other crafts in the Avondale Regional Library are the latest recipients of the Innovative & Cool Awards from the Birmingham Public Library (BPL) Board of Trustees.

Also, four BPL employees received “I Am BPL” award checks of $25 for coming up with ways to help save money and better serve library patrons. The honorees were recognized during the June 13, 2017, BPL board meeting.

The Innovative & Cool award funds programs that provide unique ways for Birmingham libraries to serve the public. The June recipients are as follows:

• “An Expression of Appreciation for the Women of the Inglenook Community,” a bi-monthly program to be held at Inglenook Library to honor women who make a positive difference in the community. The $100 prize will be used to buy food, gift giveaways and decor, said Karnecia Williams, Inglenook Library branch manager.
• Club Create, a monthly craft program at Avondale Library. Upcoming projects include butterfly houses, Mason jar herbal bug-bomb candles, button bookmarks, and sock penguins. The $100 prize will be used to buy equipment, paint, ribbon, buttons, and sewing supplies, said Ellen Griffin Shade, who submitted the award application.

The I Am BPL Award winners are:

• Ellen Griffin Shade of Avondale Library for suggesting an idea for expanding and improving the value of BPL services by instituting drop-in coloring stations for adults.
• Cheryl Burgess of Central Library Youth Department for suggesting a directory be installed in Central Library elevators and above the buttons to help patrons know what floor various departments are on.
• Cynthia Barnett of Central Library for suggesting an idea to utilize a Clearinghouse repository for discarded library materials. Instead of first sending discards to Better World Books or the library book store, Barnette suggests making a virtual list that all 19 BPL locations can access. This allows libraries to supplement their collection thus saving money, and increases options for patrons, especially in neighborhood libraries.
• Mary Little, administration senior secretary, for consistently saving the library system money by printing meeting materials double-sided.

Birmingham Public Library (BPL) For additional information about the programs and services of the Birmingham Public Library, visit our website at www.bplonline.org and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter @BPL. The mission of Birmingham Public Library is to provide the highest quality library service to our citizens for life-long learning, cultural enrichment, and enjoyment. This system—with 19 locations and serving the community for 130 years—is one of the largest library systems in the southeast.